If you’ve been following the news from California, you know that drought is a very real challenge that we all face in a changing world. Melanie Crowder’s, PARCHED, beautifully tells the story of survival, friendship, and trust in an alternate reality. At the beginning of the school year, she visited the students at West Education Campus in DC under the auspices of An Open Book Foundation which takes children’s and teens’ authors and illustrators to schools in the Washington, D.C. area where over 50% of students qualify for the national free and reduced school lunch program. The Foundation sends every student attending the event home with a signed book.
Here’s some great photos and a little bit about the very successful event from the An Open Book Foundation Facebook Page:
An Open Book celebrated the start of the school year with a fabulous visit by Melanie Crowder. Melanie spoke about her recently published novel, “Parched”, with an enthusiastic group of sixth graders at West Education Campus. After sharing a bit about herself and her writing process, Melanie dove into describing the inspiration for her first book and its unique set of characters who are struggling to survive in severe drought conditions. Students spent the second part of the session working on a creative writing exercise shaped by animal sounds and descriptive language. Each student was excited to receive a signed copy of Melanie Crowder’s book, “Parched” and many of them eagerly opened the pages to see how the story would unfold.
There’s so much I love about these photos: kids connecting deeply with a book, an author who is also an excellent educator, students turned on about writing!
Melanie lives in the Denver, Colorado area and would love to visit your school or connect with your class via Skype. If you’d like to schedule a visit, email me.
If you’d like to read your very own copy of PARCHED, leave a comment below and tell me how you use literature to help your students understand current events.
